Steelix!
Introduction
Games
Game 1 - Chairzard Pidgeot
A lot of people on expanded ladder play Zard in every way you could think of. This was just a classic current format Zard list, with things like Mew ex and max belt.
I started Oricorio in active, and was able to KO 3 Charmanders and a Pidgey before my opponent decided to evolve their Pokemon. They just kept benching basics and were not able to find anything. When they finally got a Zard up, I was at 2 prize cards remaining and just hit them for 650 damage (13 cards!) to win the first game.
Game 2 - Mewtwo VSTAR + Arceus VSTAR
Game 2 started similar to game 1, and I started Fez in the active. I managed to get an Onix down with energy, despite my hand being kind of bad for the next turn. However, my opponent rips an Iono and gives me a very strong hand that allowed me to KO their Mewtwo V on my second turn.
After, they promoted their Bibarel who got a ton of Copperajahs thrown on him, with their follow up Arcues V and Mewtwo V being unable to kill my Steelix and facing the same demise. A quick victory, something this deck can do very well if the opponent is not prepared.
Game 3- Chien-Pao + Bax (and friends!)
Game 3 was the closest and most fun I had out of the five. It started just like games 1 and 2, with a 2 prizer in the active.
My opponent went first got some Frigibax out on the field with a Chien-Pao, Radiant Greninja, Palkia V, and a Prism Star Volcanion. After doing a double take and realizing I wasn't just facing a normal deck, I realized I was in a very terrible spot because my opponent has candy Bax on their next turn.
On my turn, I only managed to get out 2 Onix with an energy on one and grabbed a Fez expecting them to kill my Genesect in active. While this seemed right because they did kill my Genesect, I believe grabbing another Genesect over the Fez was more optimal.
Like I expected, they got a Chien-Pao in the active and killed my Genesect. Knowing this match would be hard if they took the first 2, I had to hope they whiffed gust on a later turn. They discarded a Boss this turn which was really interesting, as I did not expect them to discard a gust knowing Volcanion was useless.
Back to my turn, I managed to kill him with a Steelix and just kind of hoped he didn't have gust to kill another Genesect. Despite my hoping, he finds another Boss and kills another Genesect.
After this, I managed to find prime catcher to kill his Chien-Pao on the bench (although I could've just killed active, not sure why I gusted as I would lose to his gust no matter what). This time I really needed him to whiff Boss, and since 2 were in the discard, I was hoping he could not find one more (if they even had 3).
Luckily, my opponent whiffs boss and just kills my Steelix after Iono brings us both to 2 cards. Despite this looking like a loosing position (no Genesects on board), one of the cards I got was my Oricorio.
On what would need to be my final turn, I drew enough cards with Fez and Oricorio to knock out his Palkia VSTAR to win the game! It was a super close match, and my opponent put time into making a cool deck, which is always fun to see.
Game 4 - Mega Absol + Friends
Game 4 was very quick because my opponent was playing 3 prizers. They started M Absol in active, and I had an Onix in mine. I was able to go energy attach pass knowing they couldn't kill me turn 2.
On their turn, they put down a Deino, Scraggy, Galarian Zigzagoon on the bench. I wasn't too worried because I knew this was one of those decks that was just a bunch of things thrown together, and they only ended up attaching an energy to their active, putting a Black Market down, and passing.
Luckily, I had a stadium in my hand and was able bump theirs, while being in a good spot to KO their M Absol. However, I forgot to evolve into Steelix and attacked with Onix, milling 5 cards (2 sacred ash :D) and dealing 80 damage. A complete blunder on my part, but a pretty funny one.
They just went attach pass again, and I was able to kill their M Absol, and drew Prime Catcher off prizes. Since they benched another M Absol, I just primed it up and killed it for game. Again, another very quick game because Steelix can deal a lot of damage quickly!
Game 5 - Lugia + Amazing Rare Kyogre/Raikou/Yveltal
I can't lie, I was nervous seeing Lugia. The deck is very good in PTCGL Expanded, and could be very dangerous for me. Going first, I was able to get Onix in the active with an energy.
On their turn, they managed to get 2 Archeops in the discard, but was not able to get a Lugia V down. Going back into my turn, I killed their AR Kyogre which prompted them to concede.
Final Thoughts
Overall I had a lot of fun playing the Steelix deck. While most of the games my opponent just didn't stand a chance, I still had to think and plan out my actions to work on improving my gameplay. I thought about my card counts after almost losing game 3, and showing it to a friend helped me realized that 8 energy was probably too much, and having another air balloon might be good.
